Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Birthday Cake Tradition

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“In my family, we take birthdays seriously. One of the birthday traditions we never break, is that the birthday person must always take the first slice of cake. If they don’t, they will get bad luck. I don’t believe this is just a tradition within my own family however we never break it. When I overhear the birthday person say “I dont want cake”, I always make sure to explain to them that they have to take the first bite. I really don’t know how much I believe in that rule, but it is easier to take a bite of the first slice, than deal with the stress that I will get bad luck”

Context

My informant grew up in Miami in a family that takes birthdays very seriously. One unbreakable rule at every birthday is that the person celebrating has to take the first slice of cake, if they don’t, it’s bad luck. She doesn’t think the tradition is unique to her family, and she enforces it herself, stepping in to remind the birthday person of the rule whenever they try to pass on cake.

Analysis

The rule that her family practices is simple, but the logic behind it is a great representation of folk belief: the person being celebrated has to actively participate in their own celebration. The cake is symbolically for the birthday person, and refusing the first piece is a way of refusing the celebration itself, which folk belief treats as inviting bad luck for the year ahead. The informant’s role as enforcer is also very important to the passing of traditions. She doesn’t just follow the rule herself, she makes sure other people follow it too, even when they’re not part of her family. That kind of active transmission is how folk belief spreads beyond its original household. Additionally, the fact that she was unsure about whether it’s specifically her family’s tradition or a more widespread one is also typical of folklore because many people assume their family customs are universal until they encounter someone who doesn’t share them.

Russian New Year

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“My family is Russian, and every year and New Year’s we write a wish on a small piece of paper burn it with a candle. Drop the ashes into a glass of champagne and drink it while the clock strikes midnight. This has always been a tradition but I had not started doing it until I turned 18”

Context

My informant comes from a Russian family who has performed this New Year’s ritual every year for as long as she can remember. The whole family takes part. Each person writes their own wish on a small piece of paper, burns it with a candle, drops the ashes into their glass of champagne, and drinks it as the clock strikes midnight. She says it’s something everyone in Russia does, and her family has continued the practice in the U.S.

Analysis

This is aa example of Russian New Year’s folklore, and similarly to a lot of calendar customs, it compresses a symbolic action into a very short window of time. The ritual has to happen exactly at midnight and that precision is part of what gives it power. The transition from one year to the next is a liminal moment, a brief threshold when folk belief across many cultures imagines the boundary between worlds. The chimes of the clock essentially open a window, and the ritual has to be completed while that window is open.

12 Grapes on New Years

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“Every New Year’s Eve at midnight, my family eats 12 grapes, one for each chime of the clock. You’re supposed to make a wish with each grape, one for each month of the coming year. If you don’t finish all 12 before the chimes end, it’s bad luck. My mom is from Spain and she said everyone there does it. We’ve done it every year my whole life. My American friends always think it’s the weirdest thing but honestly it feels wrong to start a year without it.”

Context

My informant’s mother is from Spain, where eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve is a widespread tradition. The family has practiced it every year of the informant’s life, and she now considers it essential to ringing in the new year.

Analysis

The 12 grapes ritual is one of the most practiced calendar customs in Spain. This account shows how a national tradition travels through immigration and stays alive inside a single family abroad. The basic structure of the ritual is specific: twelve grapes, twelve chimes, twelve wishes, one for each month of the coming year, with bad luck for failing to finish in time. That kind of rule-bound structure is typical of calendar folklore. The ritual works so well and is so easy to follow because it’s the same every year at the same exact moment.

Knocking on Wood

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“So something about me is that ever since I was little, I would knock on wood three times And if I don’t see wood nearby, I would knock on my head three times. It started because my mom and older sister would do it all the time. I think it’s the reason I consider myself a superstitious person. Everytime I have a bad thought I knock to prevent it from happening. It gives me peace of mind.”

Context

My informant grew up in Miami and picked up this habit as a young child by watching her mom and older sister do it constantly. She still practices it today, knocking on wood three times whenever she has a bad or worrying thought, and knocking on her own head three times if no wood is around. She describes it as the reason she considers herself a superstitious person, and says it gives her peace of mind.

Analysis

Knocking on wood is one of the most widely practiced superstitions in the Western world. This account shows the ritual functioning less as a belief in literal magic and more as a tool for managing anxiety. The informant doesn’t claim that the knocking will actualy stop something bad from happening. She says it gives her peace of mind. This is a really common pattern in folk belief. The ritual survives because of what it does for the practitioner emotionally, not because anyone has confirmed it works. It’s a small action that gives her a sense of “control” over outcomes she can’t actually control. Exactly the psychological function superstition tends to serve.

The Woman with the Braid

Age: 19

Background: As we sat in the middle of McDonald’s on Figueroa, I turned to my friend and asked if she had any ghost stories of her own. She let me know she had multiple, so I asked for the one she deemed most interesting, which led to this conversation.

ES: One night I’m walking down the hall of my house, and I pointed out to the end of the hall and asked my mom, “Who’s that?”

And my mom asked, “What are you talking about?”

And I was like “Who is the lady at the end of the hall?”

And my mom was like, “There’s nobody there,” and asked, “Describe her to me.”

And I said, “It’s a lady with long gray hair and a braid, and she’s saying hi to me.” And obviously, my mom freaked out because there was nobody there. She tried to figure out who it could’ve possibly been and then the next morning my dad got a phone call that his grandma had passed away in her sleep, and she always wore her hair down but when she slept, she put her hair in a braid. And so then my mom realized that was her. Coming to visit us…

Interviewer: Before she passed away?

ES: No, after she passed away.

Interviewer: But you guys weren’t aware that she had passed away when she visited?

ES: No, we didn’t know.

Interviewer: That’s interesting. Do you think that strengthened your belief or was your belief already there? Like how did that affect your belief?

ES: I was too young, but I think hearing that story as I grew up and hearing my mom say [I”ve] always had a strong connection to [my] loved ones who have passed has definitely strengthened my belief and understanding of…

Interviewer: Ghosts? Spirits?

ES: Yeah.

My thoughts: I’m still not convinced that ghosts are real; however, there didn’t seem to be a reasonable explanation for what she saw other than her great-grandma. Also, the fact that she received this information the day after, and the detail of the braid, do grant this story some credibility.